SGPolitico: Created page with "{{Infobox-person | name = M. Ravi | othername = Ravi s/o Madasamy | image = | caption = | birth_date = 9 April 1969 | birth_place = Singapore | death_date = 24 December 2025 (aged 56) | death_place = Singapore | alma_mater = National University of Singapore (BA)
Cardiff University (LLB) | occupation = Lawyer, activist }} '''Ravi Madasamy''' (9 April 1969 – 24 December 2025), known as '''M. Ravi''', was a Singaporean lawyer and activist. W..."

2026-06-22T09:28:56Z

Created page with "{{Infobox-person | name = M. Ravi | othername = Ravi s/o Madasamy | image = | caption = | birth_date = 9 April 1969 | birth_place = Singapore | death_date = 24 December 2025 (aged 56) | death_place = Singapore | alma_mater = National University of Singapore (BA)<br />Cardiff University (LLB) | occupation = Lawyer, activist }} '''Ravi Madasamy''' (9 April 1969 – 24 December 2025), known as '''M. Ravi''', was a Singaporean lawyer and activist. W..."

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{{Infobox-person
| name = M. Ravi
| othername = Ravi s/o Madasamy
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = 9 April 1969
| birth_place = Singapore
| death_date = 24 December 2025 (aged 56)
| death_place = Singapore
| alma_mater = National University of Singapore (BA)<br />Cardiff University (LLB)
| occupation = Lawyer, activist
}}

'''Ravi Madasamy''' (9 April 1969 – 24 December 2025), known as '''M. Ravi''', was a Singaporean lawyer and activist. Working largely as a cause lawyer, he acted in a number of constitutional and human-rights cases in Singapore, including capital cases, and was an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty and for LGBT rights. In 2023 he received the International Bar Association's award for outstanding contribution by a legal practitioner to human rights.

== Early life and education ==

Ravi was born in Singapore on 9 April 1969, the sixth of seven children of Tamil descent; his father was a construction worker and his mother a homemaker. He attended Deyi Secondary School and Anderson Junior College, graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and sociology, and completed a Bachelor of Laws at Cardiff University in Wales.

== Legal career ==

=== Early career ===

Ravi was called to the Bar in 1996. He initially held a general practice. In 2003 he was approached by opposition politician [[J. B. Jeyaretnam]] to act for [[Vignes Mourthi]], an inmate on death row for drug trafficking; this was his first capital case and marked his shift toward such work. In 2004 he represented Shanmugam s/o Murugesu, sentenced to death for trafficking cannabis, and led a public campaign petitioning President [[S. R. Nathan]] for clemency; no pardon was granted and Shanmugam was executed. Also in 2004 he acted for Chee Siok Chin and others in proceedings concerning the constitutional right to free speech.

=== Cause lawyering ===

Ravi acted in a series of constitutional and human-rights matters. In 2008 he represented [[Chee Soon Juan]] and Chee Siok Chin in a defamation suit brought by Prime Minister [[Lee Hsien Loong]] and former Prime Minister [[Lee Kuan Yew]]. He later acted for other government critics in suits brought by ruling-party figures, including blogger Roy Ngerng, [[The Online Citizen]] contributor Daniel de Costa, and John Tan.

In 2011 he brought a constitutional challenge to [[Section 377A]] of the Penal Code, which criminalised sex between men, on behalf of his client Tan Eng Hong; the Court of Appeal ultimately held that the provision was not unconstitutional. In the same period he represented British writer Alan Shadrake in proceedings for scandalising the judiciary, and acted in ''Vellama d/o Marie Muthu v Attorney-General'', concerning the government's obligation to call a by-election after the Hougang seat fell vacant.

From 2009 to 2015 Ravi represented [[Yong Vui Kong]], a Malaysian sentenced to death for drug trafficking. During the proceedings the law on the mandatory death penalty for trafficking was amended; at a re-sentencing hearing Yong's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment with caning. Ravi later challenged the constitutionality of judicial caning; the Court of Appeal dismissed the challenge. He subsequently acted in the reopened cases of [[Cheong Chun Yin]], whose death sentence was commuted, and [[Gobi Avedian]], whose appeal succeeded and whose sentence was reduced to a term of imprisonment and caning; Gobi was released in December 2024.

=== Disciplinary proceedings, cost orders and suspension ===

Ravi was the subject of several disciplinary and court proceedings over his career, a number of which intersected with his medical condition (see below).

In 2015 the Law Society of Singapore suspended Ravi from practice pending a medical examination, after a psychiatrist's assessment regarding his fitness to practise.

In 2019 Ravi made statements criticising the impartiality of prosecutors and judges; he later apologised and withdrew them. A Law Society disciplinary tribunal found him guilty of misconduct under the Legal Profession Act and imposed a fine.

In 2020 Ravi made public allegations of misconduct against prosecutors in connection with the [[Gobi Avedian]] case and filed a civil suit on Gobi's behalf against a number of prosecutors. The Attorney-General's Chambers disputed the allegations and lodged a disciplinary complaint. After proceedings before a disciplinary tribunal and the High Court, the matter reached the Court of Three Judges, which on 22 March 2023 found Ravi guilty of misconduct and suspended him from practice for five years. Several international organisations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Union Internationale des Avocats, publicly criticised the suspension.

In December 2020 Ravi was charged with criminal defamation over a social-media post concerning Minister for Law [[K. Shanmugam]] and Chief Justice [[Sundaresh Menon]]. In March 2021 the Attorney-General's Chambers issued a warning in lieu of prosecution after Ravi deleted the post, apologised and undertook not to repeat the allegation.

In May 2021 the Court of Appeal ordered Ravi to pay S$5,000 in costs, finding that he had acted improperly in an application to reopen the case of Syed Suhail Syed Zin. The International Bar Association and the International Commission of Jurists criticised the decision.

In May 2024 Ravi was struck off the roll by the Court of Three Judges, for comments concerning the government and conduct during a trial.

== Activism and political career ==

Ravi was an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty and for LGBT rights. He campaigned for clemency for several death-row inmates, including [[Yong Vui Kong]], and in 2019 began representing [[Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam]], a Malaysian sentenced to death for drug trafficking, arguing on appeal that Nagaenthran was intellectually disabled; the argument was dismissed and the case drew international attention, including from Richard Branson. In 2014 Ravi received the Asia Pink Award for his pro-bono work challenging Section 377A.

At the [[2015 Singapore general election|2015 general election]] Ravi contested [[Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency|Ang Mo Kio GRC]] on a six-member [[Reform Party (Singapore)|Reform Party]] team, which lost to the People's Action Party with 21.36% of the vote.

In 2023 he received the International Bar Association's award for outstanding contribution by a legal practitioner to human rights, for his work on the death penalty and LGBT rights.

== Personal life ==

Ravi was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2006. The condition featured in several of the disciplinary and criminal matters he was involved in; in a number of these the courts declined to treat it as substantially mitigating, citing his management of the condition.

In November 2017, during a manic episode, Ravi entered a law firm where he had previously worked and assaulted two lawyers; he was ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment. In 2023 he was charged in connection with two separate public incidents involving assault and disorderly behaviour, and in 2024 was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. In November 2023 he was sentenced to 21 days' imprisonment for contempt of court.

Ravi wrote an autobiography, ''Kampong Boy'' (2013), which was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize, as well as ''Land of Good English'' (2004) and ''Hung at Dawn'' (2005).

== Death ==

Ravi was admitted unconscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and died on 24 December 2025, aged 56. At the time of reporting the cause of death had not been determined and the matter was under police investigation as an unnatural death. A man who was with Ravi shortly before his hospitalisation was arrested and subsequently charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act in connection with a gathering at which drugs were said to have been consumed.

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Activist]]
[[Category:Lawyers]]

M. Ravi - Revision history